My Top 3 Money Saving Tips for a Gym Membership

So you want to be a regular at a yoga studio, spin community or HIIT workout type of gym but look at the monthly membership fee and think abso-freakin-lutely not! Often times joining a workout community that offers great classes, high quality teachers and perfect class times will cost upwards of $100 dollars per month. And as a recent college grad without access to the WREC center on campus anymore, or a 20-something it is nearly impossible to think about investing that much every month for yoga or pilates classes.

As a person who feels my best when I am able to get that daily sweat sesh in, during college I got creative to find my way into becoming part of a high quality yoga studio or gym at a very discounted price, or often completely free!

These tips are just way to valuable to keep to myself which is why I am giving you the inside scoop on all my money saving tips. I am not going to tell you that being able to attend classes for free at places like Core Power Yoga or a boutique yoga studio or a local spin studio is always a glamorous trade-off, but I have found that the tips listed below have been a total game changer for how I look for my ideal workout community.

Become Part of the Cleaning Crew

See what I mean when I said that it is not always glamorous? I know that the thought of cleaning workout equipment or locker rooms and bathrooms is not fun in any way but hear me out because the trade-off is worth it.

When I was in college, I wanted to go to places like Core Power Yoga and little boutique studios that have incredible teachers who have a lot of knowledge about the body, mindfulness and are creative in class. I found that going to the WREC center on campus was not cutting it for me in the way that I was looking for a little more than basic all level classes.

So with this, I decided to try out one of the free intro weeks at a local studio. and during that week I asked if they offered a discount for college students. To my surprise they said they not only offer a discount but they also offer unlimited classes completely free if I was willing to come into the studio for 1 hour per week and do some easy cleaning. And as soon as she told me about it I was ready to sign up!

So for the rest of the school year I came into the studio for one hour per week and did things like wiped down the counters, refolded the clothing in the boutique, mopped the floor in the yoga room, wrote on the announcement boards, and probably the least desirable task was replacing the toilet paper rolls...which to be honest is not bad.

Now, even six years later I still ask about becoming part of the cleaning crew when I walk into a studio because the money I can save for sacrificing one hour per week gives me more financial freedom to invest in other things like travel, utility bills, rent and food.

Pick Up a Front Desk Shift

I have worked quite a few front desk jobs at various yoga studios over the years for the same trade off as being on the cleaning crew and an added bonus of some extra hourly cash and work experience for that resume! Now, most front desk jobs pay hourly but if you do only a few hours per week you can easily cover your food and gas money leaving you with that much extra to put in savings.

As a little bonus tip too, often times working as a front desk associate you get access to attend free classes at other studios that have partnered with your community. I once worked at a yoga studio that allowed associates from our studio to attend classes completely free at a local pilates studio, spinning studio and boxing studio...talk about a great mix of different workouts and ALL FOR FREE! Way too good to pass up a little extra cash, free classes and a resume building client services role.

Get Outside

One of my all time favorite and easy money saving tips for working out is grabbing a pair of your favorite sneakers, get a friend or your dog and hit the trails or walk around the park.

Getting outside is not only great for getting your body moving, but the fresh air, sunshine and sounds of nature are a guaranteed way to relieve some stress and get you feeling like a million bucks.

I would love to hear from you! Let me know your favorite workouts and tips and tricks you have found that work for you and share them here, or in the facebook membership!